New Behind the Scenes Image Shows Creepiness of Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Joker’

The director of the upcoming Joker standalone movie, Todd Phillips shared a behind the scenes image from the movie on his Instagram. The picture features Joaquin Phoenix in the lead role as the arch-nemesis of Batman, the Joker.

Without a doubt, the photo is somewhat eerie and shows Phoenix applying white makeup to his face as the caption simply reads “finishing touches.” The photo wasn’t the only thing shared by the director as he confirmed that the movie will have an R rating. In a reply to fans asking about the rating, the director said, “It will be rated R. I’ve been asked this a lot. Just assumed people knew. Sorry.”

 

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Finishing touches.

A post shared by Todd Phillips (@toddphillips1) on Jun 16, 2019 at 9:50am PDT

The Joker’s Portrayal Over The Years

Not since Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the Joker have viewers been given a chance to delve into the life and background of the supervillain. One of the biggest complaints about the Dark Knight Trilogy despite its monumental success and its seminal influence on comic-book movies to come was the fact that the Joker’s origins were pretty much a mystery to both the audience and the characters in the movie.

In terms of cinematic experience, Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker was simply jaw-dropping, with it landing him a posthumous Oscar award for his work. But, Nicholson’s Joker in the 1989 Batman movie was more in-depth and akin to what we read in the comic books, although with a little twist to his backstory.

Joker Storylines and Possible Theories

The official synopsis for the movie is set in 1981 and focuses on Arthur Fleck commonly known as the Joker. Joker will tell the story of how a failed, highly unstable stand-up comedian goes insane and somehow morphs into the psychotic bad guy we all love to hate. This is the first time comic book and moviegoers will get to see the origins of the criminal who has terrorized Gotham and Batman for decades on the big screen and in comic books.

The Joker’s origins have been revised throughout the years with the Golden Age (1940) version showing the Joker as a remorseless serial killer, who killed his victims with ‘Joker Venom,’ a toxin which left their faces smiling grotesquely. The Silver Age Joker (1951) introduced the character formerly being the criminal Red Hood, and the cause of his disfigurement is as a result of a fall into a chemical vat. Finally, the Modern Age Joker we’re most familiar with being the one who beat Jason Todd to death with a crowbar and renders Barbara Gordon cripple.

From the trailers, the version of the character audiences will get to see is a mashup of the Silver Age Joker but with a twist. The Joker loses his wife and is a failing comic, although he doesn’t end up in acid, he loses his mind and becomes maniacal.

A cast member, Brian Henry in an interview with Observer said “What happens with Joker is you start to see how he really was a happy person. He really was trying to find this…hope in humanity until it broke him down and he just had to give up and reshape it.”

Fans have been clamoring for the big screen adaptation of Alan Moore’s Batman: The Killing Joke which took home an Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album. The one-shot graphic novel is widely considered by critics to be the definitive Joker story and one of the best Batman stories ever published. There has been no talk yet on if this will be adapted but with the potential success of The Joker, it is hard to bet against it happening in the future.

Phoenix will take up the mantle of maniacal villain and failed comedian, Arthur Fleck/The Joker. He is joined by Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Douglas Hodge, and more.

The Joker is slated for an October 4, 2019 release date.